End paper assembly

ABSTRACT

A method of binding and an end paper assembly for use in the binding of books includes a cover sheet and top and inside sheets and the cover and top sheets are attached to the inside sheet along a line adjacent to but spaced from the edge of the inside sheet to define a margin. A back liner material is then attached to the cover sheet and a portion of the liner material extends freely from the sheets. To bind the pages of the book, the end sheet assembly is first attached along its margin to the pages of the book, the cover sheet is folded back to cover the bound margin and the freely extending portion of the back liner material is folded over and adhesively bonded to the back of the book pages.

END PAPER ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 22, 1972 United States Patent 3,811,998 END PAPER ASSEMBLY Fred James, Des Moines, Iowa, assignor to Library Binding Service, Inc. Filed Sept. 22, 1972, Ser. No. 291,309 Int. Cl. B32b 3/04 US. Cl. 161-400 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of binding and an end paper assembly for use in the binding of books includes a cover sheet and top and inside sheets and the cover and top sheets are attached to the inside sheet along a line adjacent to but spaced from the edge of the inside sheet to define a margin. A back liner material is then attached to the cover sheet and a portion of the liner material extends freely from the sheets. To bind the pages of the book, the end sheet assembly is first attached along its margin to the pages of the book, the cover sheet is folded back to cover the bound margin and the freely extending portion of the back liner material is folded over and adhesively bonded to the back of the book pages.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a bookbinding method and an end paper assembly for use in the binding of books.

Generally, end paper assemblies have been formed of two or three leaves or sheets of paper secured along one edge thereof and folded back over each other. During binding, an end paper assembly is positioned at each side of the stack of pages which are to be bound together and the pages and end paper assemblies are sewn together. In the past, the back of the sewn materials was rounded and backed with a rounding hammer or the like and a strong flexible back liner material, e.g. a heavy muslin or flannel, was adhesively bonded to the back of the book with an adhesive to reinforce the book.

The back liner materialwhich extends beyond the book back and over the cover sheets of the end paper assemblies positioned at each side of the stack of pages was then adhesively bonded to the upward facing side of the cover sheets. Once this operation was accomplished, the upward facing sides of the front and back cover sheets were bonded to the cover boards securing the pages in the case.

Such state of the art end paper assemblies and binding methods suffer several disadvantages. The manner in which the bound materials must be manipulated to apply the back liner material is conducive to deforming the book back. Further, the back liner material tends to tent at the back ridges of the rounded and backed materials during adhesion of the back liner material to the cover sheets of the front and back end paper assemblies. In addition, extensive and accurate folding is required in the construction of the prior end paper assemblies. v The present invention overcomes these several disadvantages. In the end paper assembly and binding method incorporating the principles of the invention measuring, cutting and aflixing the usual single piece back liner material may be eliminated. In the present invention, a back liner material is first bonded to the cover sheet of each of the end paper assemblies and if finally bonded to the book back, thereby eliminating the tendency of the book back to become deformed during completion of the back lining step and also eliminating the tendency of the back lining material to tent. Moreover, in the method 3,811,998 Patented May 21, 1974 "ice and assembly incorporating the principles of the present invention, the difiiculty of folding the end paper assembly is substantially reduced and the hinge more accurately formed while an improvement in both the appearance and strength of the bound book is realized.

In one principal aspect of the invention, an end paper assembly for binding books comprises at least a pair of sheets, a first of the sheets being attached adjacent to an edge to a second of the sheets so as to define a margin for sewing the assembly to the book. Back lining material is attached to the end paper assembly and includes a first portion attached to the first of the sheets and a second portion which freely extends from the first portion and which is adapted to cover the back of the pages of the book after the end paper assembly is sewn to the pages.

In another principal aspect of the invention, a method of binding a book comprises afiixing a portion of a back liner material to the cover sheet of an end paper assembly, positioning the end paper assembly upon a stack of pages which are to be bound and affixing the end paper assembly thereto, and folding and adhesively bonding the remaining portion of the back liner material which has not been bound to the cover sheet to the back edges of the pages.

These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be understood in connection with the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The attached drawing illustrates a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of an end paper assembly construction in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the end paper assembly shown in FIG. 1 in which the components of the end paper assembly have been assembled;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectioned elevation view of the end paper assembly shown in FIG. 2 and which is sewn to the pages which are to be bound;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectioned elevation view of the end paper assembly and pages shown in FIG. 3 and in which the cover sheet of the end paper assembly has been folded back over the stitching;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the end paper assembly and pages shown in FIG. 4 and in which the book has been rounded and backed and the back liner material is ready to be folded over and adhesively bonded to the back of the pages;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the end paper assembly and pages shown in FIG. 5 and in which the back liner material is being folded over and adhesively bonded to the back of the pages;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross sectioned elevation view of the end paper assembly and pages shown in FIG. 6 and in which the application of the back liner material has been completed; and

FIG. 8 is a cross sectioned elevation view of a completed bound and cased book constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, an end paper assembly 10 incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown which comprises, generally a cover sheet 12, a top sheet 13 and an inside sheet 14. The cover sheet 12 is preferably formed integrally with the top sheet 13 by folding an enlarged sheet over itself along a fold line 16 such that the fold line 16 defines the edge of the cover and top sheets 12 and 13. As shown in FIGS. 1

and 2, the folded cover and top shets 12 and 13 are then positioned over the inside sheet 14 such that the fold 16 is spaced from the edge 18 of the inside sheet so as to define a margin 20 therebetween. Attachment of the folded cover and inside sheets to the inside sheet 14 is accomplished by way of a reinforcing strip or tape 22 which is bonded over a part of its width 23 to the upper face of the inside sheet 14 between its edge 18 and the fold 16 and over the remainder of its width 24 to the upper face of the cover sheet 12. The upward facing exterior surface of the reinforcing tape is preferably gummed so that it ay be folded back over itself along fold line 26 which is positioned along fold 16 and adhesively bonded as will be explained in further detail later.

Each of the three sheets 12, 13 and 14 are substantially uniform in length. The top sheet 13 is equal in width to the inside sheet 14 less the width of margin 20. The cover sheet 12 is somewhat wider than the top and inside sheets as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 having a width which is equal approximately to the sum of the width of the top sheet plus twice the width of the margin 20 which is defined between the edge 18 of the inside sheet 14 and the fold 16 when these sheets have been attached together by the tape 22. Thus, when the tape 22 is folded back over itself as shown in FIG. 4, the opposite right hand edges 29 of each of the sheets will be aligned with each other.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the provision of an elongate strip 30 of back liner material which is also adhesively bonded to the upper face of the cover sheet 12. This strip of material 30 is preferably formed of a suitable strong back liner cloth of the type generally employed in binding, such as heavy muslin or book flannel. A first portion 32 of this back liner material is firmly adhesively bonded to the upper surface of the cover sheet 12 of the end paper assembly and over the edge of the tape 22 such that a fold line 34 of the strip 30 is spaced from fold 16 of sheet 12 by a distance substantially equal to the width of margin 20, fold 34 extending parallel to edge 18 of the inside sheet 14 along a fold 17 in the cover sheet. The other edge 36 of portion 32 of the back liner material is positioned toward the opposite edge 29 of the cover sheet as shown in FIG. 2 and the edge of tape 22 is firmly sandwiched between portion 32 of the strip material 30 and the upper face of cover sheet 12. The remaining portion 38 of the back liner material 30 freely extends from the end paper assembly along fold 17 for a substantial width and over its length as shown in FIG. 2. This extending portion 38 is adapted to be folded over and adhesively bonded to the back of the book pages as will be set forth hereinafter in the detailed description of the method of binding contemplated by the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the stack of book pages 40 which are to be bound are aligned such that their edges are even with each other and an end paper assembly of the present invention is then positioned both on the front and back of the stack as shown in FIG. 3 such that the edge 18 of the inside sheet 14 is substantially aligned with the back 42 of the pages. The pages 40 and end paper assemblies 10 are then sewed together with a suitable heavy binding thread 44 along the margin 20 defined between the edge 18 and fold 16 of the sheets and the fold line 26 of the reinforcing tape 22, the reinforcing tape acting to substantially strengthen the sewn papers. Thus, the thread 44 passes through the pages 40 which are being bound, the inside sheet 14 and part 23 of the tape 22 at the margin 20 of the front and back end paper assemblies 10.

Once sewing is completed, the reinforcing tape 22 and the cover sheet 12 between fold 16 and the fold 17 is folded back over itself as shown in FIG. 4 and the gummed surfaces of the tape 22 which now face each other adhesively bond the overlying tape portion 24 over the stitching and margin 20. Once this foldback operation is completed, the fold line 17 of the cover sheet and the fold line 34 of the back liner material will also be positioned in substantially overlying relationship to the edge 18 of the inside sheet 14 and the opposite edges 29 of the cover, top and inside sheets will be aligned with each other.

Before the back liner material can be bonded in place, the book back must be rounded and backed with a suitable rounding tool to the shape shown in FIG. 5 to form beaded ridges 45 at the fold line 34. The freely extending portion 38 of the back liner material 30 which is of substantial width is now folded over the page backs 42 as shown in FIG. 6, and is adhesively bonded thereto with a flexible adhesive, the portions 38 substantially meeting or overlapping as shown in FIG. 7. Thus it will be seen that the back liner material may be applied without repeated positioning and repositioning of the bound materials. This is important since the beaded edges 45 and rounded page backs 42, as shown in FIG. 7 were subject to being distorted and flattened. Moreover, the back liner material tends to tent at the intersections 46 where the ridges 45 intersect the cover sheet 12 of the end paper assemblies as viewed in FIG. 7 causing the board to be separated slightly from the ridges. The end paper assembly and binding method of the present invention obviates both of these disadvantages.

To complete the bound book, the cover sheets 12 of each of the respective end paper assemblies are adhesively bonded to the inside surface 52 of the front and back cover boards 48 as shown in FIG. 8. Thus, in the finally bound book, the cover sheet 12 lines the inside of the book cover 50 and the top and inside sheets 13 and 14 define flysheets.

It will be understood that although sheets 12 and 13 are shown as a single folded sheet, the cover sheet 12 and top sheet 13 may be formed of individual sheets which are attached together along fold line 16. In addition, although the invention has been described in terms of a three sheet assembly, the invention may be practiced in end paper assemblies having only two sheets or more than three sheets, depending upon the number of protective fiysheets desired. Moreover, the term paper as employed herein is not intended to be exclusive of other suitable materials, such as foils and plastics.

Finally, it should be understood that the embodiment of the present invention which has been described is merely illustrative of one of the applications of the principles of the invention. Numerous modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An end paper assembly for use in the binding of books comprising:

at least a pair of sheets of substantially uniform length,

a first of said sheets being attached adjacent an edge thereof to a second of said sheets and defining a margin adjacent one edge of said sheets for sewing said assembly to a book, reinforcing tape attached to said sheets over said margin, and

a back liner material having a first portion thereof attached to said first of said sheets, said first portion being positioned between said margin and the edge of said first sheet opposite said margin and a second back liner portion of substantial width extending freely from said first portion of said back liner material and adapted to cover the back of the pages of the book when said end paper assembly is aflixed to the pages of the book, said sheets being attached to each other in spaced relationship to said one edge of said second sheet to define said margin of a given 'width between said edges of said sheets, and said first portion of said back liner material being attached to said first sheet in spaced relationship to said one edge of said first sheet by a distance substantially equal to said given width of said margin, whereby said first sheet may be back folded into overlying relationship to said margin to position said back liner material in overlying relationship with said one edge of said second sheet and said second portion of said back liner material folded over said margin and secured to the back of the pages so as to physically restrict the folded over margin.

2. The construction of claim 1 wherein an end paper assembly is provided on each side of a book end, said second portions of said back liner material being folded over said margins and being secured to the back of the pages in overlapping relationship one to the other so as to strengthen the back of the book.

3. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the exposed surface of said reinforcing tape is gummed.

4. The assembly of claim 1 including a third sheet, each of said sheets being attached together adjacent said margin.

5. The assembly of claim 1 including a third sheet, said first and third sheets being folded over each other to de 6 fine a fold line and said fold line being spaced from said one edge of said second sheet to define said margin therebetween.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,024,959 12/1935 Alger 112-21 2,744,481 5/1956 Blittschau 112-21 931,679 8/1909 Chivers 281-21 R 1,561,995 11/1925 Pearson 281-21 R 1,845,612 2/1932 Maddox 281-21 R 1,972,672 9/ 1934 Alger 281-21 R 3,330,718 7/1967 Jamer, Jr. et a1. 281-21 R GEORGE F. LESMES, Primary Examiner H. F. EPSTEIN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

